The Cry of Peace

These days the cry for ‘peace’ has become a craze in this world. But can anything be achieved by such cries? There is no way for establishing peace other than waging a war against the very causes by which peace is disturbed.

In the personal life of every human being, there is a constant conflict between the benevolent and the malevolent intellect; between spiritual force and material force. Sometimes it is good tendencies that triumph and sometimes bad tendencies are victorious.

In social life too, a similar fight between (these two tendencies) is going on. Benevolent forces have to fight malevolent forces, and in this fight, as long as spiritual force remains triumphant there is a particular type of peace, which can be called sentient peace (white peace). Likewise, as long as material force remains victorious in this fight, there is also a particular type of peace that gets expressed, which may be called static peace (black peace).

Thus, we find that peace is a relative factor. Supreme peace and external peace cannot be established in collective life, as the extroversal activities which this created world consists of have two functions - the first one is dominated by materiality and the second one by spirituality. If the existence of this world consists of the existence of these two, then permanent peace (permanent sentient or permanent static as the case may be), will mean either the cessation of the activities of either (one or the other force) or both.

That is why collective peace cannot exist except in total annihilation, and this very concept is illogical. However, an individual can certainly achieve supreme peace by means of spiritual practices…. So long as government servants have strong nerves, antisocial, static elements remain suppressed. During this period, a country experiences a special kind of peace known as sentient peace. Where government servants are weak, static people are predominant, and honest people are forced to keep a low profile. This is also a kind of peace, which can be called static peace.

This static peace is of course not desirable. If a particular social group of a particular region attacks another social group of the same region or of some other region, and under such circumstances all other social groups simply remain mute spectators or advocate the path of negotiation or compromise as the only solution, then it should be understood that they are encouraging nothing but static peace. Even if there is a good formal relation with a neighbour, but it becomes apparent that he intends to murder his wife, in that case what should be the duty of the other neighbours? Will they keep their mouths shut or sit back considering the situation a purely domestic affair? Will they assist in the establishment of static peace by not obstructing the murder of that woman?

No, humanity does not permit this. It is desirable for them to break open the door, enter the house and give protection to the woman in question. Thus, they should help to establish sentient peace by taking necessary action against the oppressor. If any country perpetrates atrocities on its minorities or attacks any weak neighbour, then the other neighbours should take up arms, and by mobilising the required force, they should restrain the tyrant in order to establish sentient peace.

This is why people who want to restore sentient peace will have to make continual efforts to acquire strength. It is impossible for goats to establish sentient peace in the society of tigers. Those who hold the view that non-violence is non-use of force sadly can neither establish sentient peace nor can they defend hard-earned freedom. There may be deceit in their non-violence and there may also be diplomatic attempts to conceal their weaknesses, but I am sorry to say that it is never possible for them to establish sentient peace.

This article, copyright 1958 by Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha (Central), was originally published in the book, Problems of the Day It is published here with permission of Ananda Marga Pracarka Samgha (Central).

P. R. Sarkar (1921-1990) was a spiritual teacher, philosopher and poet. He has written on a wide range of subjects, including science, agriculture, medicine, history and others. He founded Renaissance Universal in 1958.